Bath Towel Bib with Neck-Release Collar for Hands-Free Pet Bathing

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Solution Overview

Problem

Bathing infants and pets often results in the bather becoming soaked, requiring both hands to manage them, while maintaining dryness is challenging, leading to potential chilling and negative associations for infants and messes with pets.

Innovation Solution

A bath towel bib with a collar forming a releasable loop around the neck, featuring an actuatable mechanism that allows the absorbent cloth to hang from the neck, enabling both hands to be used for bathing and easily wrapping or covering the infant or pet, while the cloth can be pulled away to release from the neck.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If the bather uses both hands to bathe the infant, then the bonding experience is enhanced and the infant is properly cared for, but the bather becomes soaked and cannot maintain dryness

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehands-free operationVSAvoidbather becoming soaked

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The bath towel is segmented into a collar portion that remains on the bather's neck and an absorbent cloth portion that can be detached. This segmentation allows the bather to have hands-free operation while the collar stays in place, resolving the contradiction between needing both hands free and maintaining dryness.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

The collar acts as an intermediary device between the bather and the absorbent cloth. It provides a secure attachment point that allows the bather to access the towel without using hands, thereby enabling hands-free operation while preventing the bather from becoming soaked.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If the bather throws the towel over her shoulder or pins it between her chin and chest to free her hands, then she can reach for the infant, but the process of adjusting the infant in the towel requires laying the infant down which can chill the wet infant

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvehands-free operationVSAvoidinfant chilling

Core Design Contradiction:

Ease of operationVSTemperature

Solution Approach 1:

The collar is预先 attached to the bather's neck before the bathing process begins. This preliminary action ensures that the absorbent cloth is readily accessible when needed, eliminating the need to lay the infant down to adjust the towel, thereby preventing infant chilling.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Stability of the object's composition

If the collar is securely attached to the bather's neck, then the absorbent cloth remains in position for hands-free operation, but the collar cannot be easily removed when no longer needed

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecollar attachment stabilityVSAvoidcollar removal

Core Design Contradiction:

Stability of the object's compositionVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The collar incorporates a dynamic fastening mechanism that allows it to be securely attached during use and easily removed when needed. This dynamic特性 resolves the contradiction between maintaining stable attachment and enabling easy removal.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #15Dynamics

4Object-affected harmful factors

If the absorbent cloth is large enough to wrap an infant completely, then the infant is protected from chilling, but the cloth becomes cumbersome and difficult to manage while bathing

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinfant chilling protectionVSAvoidcloth management complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Object-affected harmful factorsVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The absorbent cloth is segmented from the collar, allowing it to be a large size for complete infant coverage while being manageable through the collar attachment point. This segmentation reduces the complexity of managing a large cloth during bathing.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #1Segmentation

Applied Scientific Principles

This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.

Function Achieved in This Case

Keeps the bather dry, allows for hands-free operation during bathing, and prevents chilling of infants, enhancing the bonding experience and reducing messes with pets.

Implementation Method 1

an absorbent cloth fixedly attached to the collar and operatively arranged to hang from the collar in front of the user's torso

Methodology Applied

Scientific EffectAbsorption: Absorption (physical)

Data Source

PatentUS8307462B1Bath towel bib

Publication Date: 2012.11.13 KENNEY PURCARO MARY S

AI summary

A bath towel bib including a collar adapted to form a releasably securable loop around a user's neck, an actuatable means for releasing the loop from around the user's neck, and an absorbent cloth fixedly attached to the collar and operatively arranged to hang from the collar in front of the user's torso when the loop is releasably secured around the user's neck, wherein the actuatable means for releasing the loop from around the user's neck is operatively arranged to actuate when the absorbent cloth is pulled in a direction away from the user's neck. The bath towel bib is particularly adapted for use while bathing a pet, in a system for bathing a pet including the bath towel bib, a bathing receptacle, and a bath mat. The bath towel bib is arranged to receive a pet from a bath, while allowing the bather to keep her hands free.